Sacramento Starts Second Half with Shutout Loss

LAS VEGAS – The Sacramento River Cats found little offense in their start to the second half of the season against the Las Vegas Aviators, notching six hits but scoring no runs as they were shutout by Las Vegas on Tuesday, 11-0.

From the jump the Aviators (1-0/38-38) were ready, scoring multiple runs in each of the first three innings. All scoring started thanks to a pair of singles and an error in the first, while Brett Harris launched a leadoff homer in the home half of the second. Jordan Diaz soon followed suit and hit his own dinger, a two-run shot that scored Harris for a second time.

Las Vegas tacked on two more in each the seventh and eighth, again striking for a homer in each as Seth Brown hit a leadoff homer in the seventh before Harris tallied his second two batters later. Finally in the eighth Ryan Noda made it five total homers, driving a two-run shot to right center. This was the second straight game that Las Vegas had hit five or more homers, totaling 11 home runs in their past two games.

Meanwhile, the River Cats (0-1/44-32) could not get any momentum going despite six hits, with one going for extra bases thanks to a Tyler Fitzgerald double. This was the largest shutout loss for Sacramento since hey were topped 16-0 by the Salt Lake Bees in Salt Lake on Sept. 19, 2022.

Alongside Fitzgerald’s two-baggers, Casey Schmitt notched a pair of singles and closed his game 2-for-3 while Blake Sabol, Jerar Encarnacion, and Donovan Walton each had a knock.

Taking the loss for Sacramento was Carson Whisenhunt (2-4), tagged for four earned runs (five total) on five hits in 2.0 innings. Only Nick Garcia worked a scoreless appearance, lasting 2.0 innings with one walk and one strikeout.

Sacramento will look to rebound in game two of this series from Las Vegas Ballpark at 7:05 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday.